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'Jihad Jack' walks free
Joseph Thomas ' free to go.
THE Federal Government's "war on terrorism" has suffered an embarrassing setback after Joseph Thomas, dubbed Jihad Jack, walked free after an appeal court quashed his conviction.
Evidence used to convict Mr Thomas, the first person jailed under new federal anti-terrorism laws, was ruled inadmissible by the Victorian Court of Appeal yesterday. Mr Thomas's interview in Pakistan with Australian Federal Police should not have been relied on, three judges said.
Mr Thomas was arrested in Pakistan in January 2003 and convicted in Australia in February this year for receiving funds from al-Qaeda and holding a false passport. He was sentenced to
five years' jail, with a minimum of two years. Mr Thomas says he took part in the federal police interview in Pakistan on March 8, 2003, without a lawyer because he feared being sent to Guantanamo Bay or held indefinitely if he did not co-operate.
Mr Thomas's lawyer, Lex Lasry, QC, told the appeal hearing the answers his client provided were not voluntary. "The interview was not voluntary because the applicant was not answering questions on the basis of free choice," Mr Lasry said.
But Mr Thomas could face a retrial on the charges, after lawyers for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions revealed they wanted to use evidence given by Mr Thomas in an interview with the ABC.
Mr Thomas, who has spent the past few months in a prison mental health unit, was free last night after three Victorian Court of Appeal judges - justices Chris Maxwell, Frank Vincent and Peter Buchanan - agreed to hear further argument about whether his TV admission could be used to prosecute him.
But there is
no doubt Mr Thomas received money from al-Qaeda, and doctored his passport - for which he was convicted. He admitted as much to this newspaper while on bail earlier this year.
In a panicked effort to return home he accepted thousands of dollars and an airline ticket from a senior al-Qaeda figure. He also had al-Qaeda operatives fiddle with his passport to try to disguise the length of time - April 2001 until January 2003 - he had spent in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he trained with the Taliban.
While he did these things, his admissions to federal police were made while in detention in Pakistan and, crucially, without access to a lawyer. A US interrogator had threatened him with castration and the sexual assault of his wife. He was assaulted by a Pakistani investigator.
Federal police knew the case was tainted even before they interviewed him. In March 2003, days after Mr Thomas was formally interviewed, the federal police liaison officer for South-West Asia warned Pakistan's Inter Serv
ices Intelligence that "the admissibility of the record of interview in Australian courts has been seriously compromised".
THE Federal Government's "war on terrorism" has suffered an embarrassing setback after Joseph Thomas, dubbed Jihad Jack, walked free after an appeal court quashed his conviction.
Evidence used to convict Mr Thomas, the first person jailed under new federal anti-terrorism laws, was ruled inadmissible by the Victorian Court of Appeal yesterday. Mr Thomas's interview in Pakistan with Australian Federal Police should not have been relied on, three judges said.
Mr Thomas was arrested in Pakistan in January 2003 and convicted in Australia in February this year for receiving funds from al-Qaeda and holding a false passport. He was sentenced to
five years' jail, with a minimum of two years. Mr Thomas says he took part in the federal police interview in Pakistan on March 8, 2003, without a lawyer because he feared being sent to Guantanamo Bay or held indefinitely if he did not co-operate.
Mr Thomas's lawyer, Lex Lasry, QC, told the appeal hearing the answers his client provided were not voluntary. "The interview was not voluntary because the applicant was not answering questions on the basis of free choice," Mr Lasry said.
But Mr Thomas could face a retrial on the charges, after lawyers for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions revealed they wanted to use evidence given by Mr Thomas in an interview with the ABC.
Mr Thomas, who has spent the past few months in a prison mental health unit, was free last night after three Victorian Court of Appeal judges - justices Chris Maxwell, Frank Vincent and Peter Buchanan - agreed to hear further argument about whether his TV admission could be used to prosecute him.
But there is
no doubt Mr Thomas received money from al-Qaeda, and doctored his passport - for which he was convicted. He admitted as much to this newspaper while on bail earlier this year.
In a panicked effort to return home he accepted thousands of dollars and an airline ticket from a senior al-Qaeda figure. He also had al-Qaeda operatives fiddle with his passport to try to disguise the length of time - April 2001 until January 2003 - he had spent in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he trained with the Taliban.
While he did these things, his admissions to federal police were made while in detention in Pakistan and, crucially, without access to a lawyer. A US interrogator had threatened him with castration and the sexual assault of his wife. He was assaulted by a Pakistani investigator.
Federal police knew the case was tainted even before they interviewed him. In March 2003, days after Mr Thomas was formally interviewed, the federal police liaison officer for South-West Asia warned Pakistan's Inter Serv
ices Intelligence that "the admissibility of the record of interview in Australian courts has been seriously compromised".
